Invincibility depends on one's self; the enemy's vulnerability on him.

It is ten thousand times cheaper to pay the best spies lavishly than even a tiny army poorly.

Peace proposals unaccompanied by a sworn covenant indicate a plot.

Probe him and learn where his strength is abundant and where deficient.

When envoys are sent with compliments in their mouths, it is a sign that the enemy wishes for a truce. If the enemy's troops march up angrily and remain facing ours for a long time without either joining battle or removing demands, the situation is one that requires great vigilance and circumspection. To begin by bluster, but afterward to take fright at the enemy's numbers, shows a supreme lack of intelligence.

He who relies solely on warlike measures shall be exterminated; he who relies solely on peaceful measures shall perish.

In your deliberations, when seeking to determine the military conditions, let them be made the basis of a comparison, in this wise: which of the two generals has the most ability? on which side is Discipline most rigorously enforced? which army is stronger? on which side are the officers and men more highly trained? in which army is there the greater constancy both in reward and punishment?